proposal:
As we were given the task of writing, directing and producing our own film, I wanted to think of a number of different ideas to use for this project. We were all tasked of making a film of what we wanted. We could make any story and any genre. I liked this because we hadn’t been given a previous project where we had so much freedom to make a film. As we were given the choice to pick our won genre, I decided to plan and make a horror short film. Horror Is probably my favorite genre and this was my chance to do something I wanted to do.
Although Horror is my favorite genre, I felt that a lot of Horror films were predictable. The reason I thought this was because horror films today seem to rely on ‘jumpy’ scenes to scare the viewer. I wanted to make something different and make the viewer feel uncomfortable with what there watching but I wanted to build up the tension rather than throw it at the viewer all at once. Although it will challenging building up that kind of tension in a short film, I feel that it can be achieved and have an effect on the viewer.
I decided to base my story off an old horror story, the story is- “The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door…”. The reason I chose this story was because I felt I could create the tension I wanted for this story. This story is the basic plot of the film ‘I Am Legend’. Except in that film, Will Smith’s character is against a world of zombies and he is humanity’s last chance to save them. For my story I wanted to completely focus on the one character who is alone in the world. I want to express how lonely and desperate he is in the situation that he’s in. He wants to give up on life but for some reason, he decides to keep going. I want to make the ‘knock on the door’ unexpected for my character and the viewers as well. In my film I what to show his emotional stages as he goes through everything that’s happened to him. I might put in some flash backs to show what he did in his life before to add more of a dramatic feel to it. As the story goes on he accepts what has happened and he tries to survive on his own. Once he has truly convinced himself he is the last man on earth, he notices little things that suggest he’s not alone. Such as an item which has been moved in his ‘den’. With these little suggestions, it builds up the tension. He keeps having to remind himself that he is completely alone and he thinks its all in his head. Once he establishes this, there’s a knock on his door. He’s clearly both shocked and scared about this. He hesitates and doesn’t know whether he should open the door.
I could change the ending to a more “thrilling” sort of area:
He hesitates after hearing the knock and is unsure whether its really happening or not. He has mixed emotions and slowly walks towards the door, he could have voiceovers in his mind about whats going on, he ‘s think of the pro and cons of the situation while he’s walking towards the door. There’s another knock, this one much louder and more frightening. He looks terrified now but still has the urge to know who or what is knocking on the door. He opens the door and there’s a blinding light and he shields his eyes. The light slowly fades and gets dimmer. He opens his eyes, he shows true fear and what he’s seeing or he could have a sense of relieve on his face.
I would like to film this in urban areas. I like the idea of filming this in isolated buildings. I want to base the surroundings from the tv show ‘The Walking Dead’. Although I couldn’t make the outdoor scenes like they did on the show, I can certainly film in some hallways and make them look isolated. I can also film some dark scenes in the college studio as that would have a nice effect.
My current actor has been growing out his hair and beard for a “rustic” and alone sort of feel.
(rough script being changed on day – close)
Melmane Shake 